This uncertainty is not new. Public transport faced exactly the same questions when the sector moved from diesel to fully electric fleets. Sycada has been a transition partner in this development and was closely involved in the conversion of thousands of buses, hundreds of chargers and an operation where delays were unacceptable. That experience generated clear insight into what makes an electric fleet succeed and, just as importantly, what causes it to fail.
From this experience, five principles consistently proved decisive. In this blog, we show how these five best practices can help transport companies today to identify a clear and realistic starting point for the energy transition.
Many transport companies begin the energy transition by selecting vehicles. Which electric truck fits my operation? What is the range? How much payload is possible? These questions are logical, but they often lead to premature or incorrect investments. Without a clear understanding of daily operations, it remains guesswork what will actually work.
The real starting point is not the truck, but the route. How long is a route in practice? Where do vehicles consistently stand still? Which routes are predictable and which are not? And where are the fixed idle moments that are suitable for charging? Only when these questions are clearly answered does it become apparent what is technically and operationally feasible.
In practice, transport companies often discover that certain vehicles are almost self-evident candidates for electrification. Think of a fixed shuttle between a distribution centre and a hub that covers the same distance every day. Or an urban distribution route that departs in the morning, returns around midday and remains idle overnight. Or night deliveries with clearly defined charging windows at the depot.
These predictable routes are often the first that can be electrified without significant risk, while keeping planning reliability intact.
By starting with what makes operational sense rather than what seems technically possible, a realistic initial picture of the transition emerges. This does not guarantee a solution for the entire fleet, but it does deliver something more important: a reliable starting point.
In a diesel based operation, energy is rarely a strategic topic. You refuel when convenient, prices fluctuate, and that is simply part of the business. Once vehicles become electric, that assumption disappears. Energy suddenly becomes a daily consideration in planning, costs and operational reliability.
Experience from large scale electrification projects shows that the greatest impact on the business case does not come from the vehicle or the charger, but from how energy is organised. The timing of charging determines whether vehicles are ready to depart in the morning or must wait. The location of charging determines whether costs are controllable or dependent on volatile public tariffs. And the way charging is distributed determines whether peak loads put pressure on the grid, leading to delays, additional costs or downtime.
For transport companies, this means energy can no longer be treated as a supporting function. The cost differences are substantial. Companies that rely heavily on public charging often pay between 40 and 60 cents per kilowatt hour, which makes it impossible for an electric fleet to compete with diesel on cost per kilometre. Charging at a private depot, or through a shared charging community with other transport operators, typically brings costs down to 13 to 20 cents per kilowatt hour, making the business case viable.
For management, this translates into very concrete questions:
In a market where grid capacity is under pressure and energy prices remain volatile, charging strategy becomes a decisive factor for both cost control and continuity. Companies that gain insight into energy consumption per route can make better decisions about vehicle selection, realistic charging strategies and responsible investments. The business case shifts from an uncertain leap of faith to a calculation that can be actively managed.
Where diesel planning is primarily about logistics, electric operations add a new dimension: energy. That additional layer makes the difference between a controlled transition and operational disruption.
As long as only one or two electric vehicles are in operation, the impact often seems manageable. But once the number grows, typically somewhere between five and eight trucks, the dynamics change noticeably. Early signs appear that existing planning methods are no longer sufficient. A vehicle that has charged just a little too little, a charger that is unexpectedly occupied, a driver returning later than planned: small deviations suddenly have major consequences.
The impact is felt immediately in operations. Route combinations fail, deliveries are postponed, planners are constantly adjusting schedules, and buffers are increased as a precaution. What starts as occasional inconvenience can quietly develop into structural unreliability, affecting planning, customer relationships, costs and confidence in the transition itself.
The key lesson from earlier large scale electrification projects is that routes only become truly reliable when energy demand, battery state, driving behaviour and charging moments are part of one integrated planning process. It is not enough to see where vehicles are. It is essential to know whether they can actually perform their next route and whether the planned charging session has taken place.
For transport companies, this represents a fundamental shift. Planning is no longer just about assigning routes, but about anticipating energy requirements: how much energy a route needs, what happens when deviations occur, and where risks arise before they manifest on the road.
When planning and energy come together in a single system, the process changes from an increasingly complex puzzle into a manageable whole. Not because there are fewer variables, but because they become predictable.
In public transport, the biggest challenge did not lie with the first electric vehicles, but with scaling up. What began as a manageable pilot quickly evolved into an operation where dozens of vehicles had to be deployed, charged and planned simultaneously. It was at that point that underlying system choices were truly put to the test.
This made it clear how important it is to build a future proof structure from the outset. A charging strategy that works for three vehicles does not automatically scale to twenty. What seems like an acceptable energy contract today can, during expansion, lead to unmanageable grid costs, peak penalties or even years long waiting times for additional capacity. These are direct commercial risks.
Incorrect choices in charging infrastructure are equally costly. A depot that later has to be modified or replaced because it cannot scale causes operational disruption and can result in reinvestments running into hundreds of thousands of euros. Capital that would be far better spent on fleet expansion or innovation.
For transport companies, this insight is critical. Electrification is not an additional project on the side, but a transformation that reshapes the business over the coming years. Companies that consider scalability from the very beginning avoid having to redesign their operations later at higher cost, under greater pressure and with increased risk to continuity.
One of the most striking lessons from the public transport transition was the impact of collaboration. In dense regions, charging capacity was shared. At hubs, infrastructure was jointly used. In rural areas, solutions were combined to allocate limited grid capacity more intelligently. This delivered economies of scale in both cost and reliability.
For transport companies, collaboration can make a similar difference. Examples include shared charging depots, joint use of grid connections, or coordinating charging schedules to avoid peak loads. In practice, companies increasingly exchange capacity. One operator that charges little during the day makes capacity available to another that needs energy at night. This reduces costs and increases security of supply.
However, collaboration does not happen automatically. Not every neighbour is willing to participate, interests differ, and agreements require trust as well as contractual safeguards. And what if collaboration fails? Then reality becomes harsh very quickly. Without shared solutions, a company is entirely dependent on its own grid connection, with all the associated limitations. In some regions, this means years of waiting for reinforcement, no room to scale, and a brake on further electrification.
Companies in that position must resort to alternatives that are often costly or complex. Temporary battery systems, backup generators, constrained smart charging, or postponing fleet renewal. None of these options are ideal, but they can become unavoidable when structural grid capacity is lacking.
Collaboration requires a different perspective on competition and ownership, but it offers something essential for many companies: a path to growth in a market where grid capacity has become the new scarce resource.
The transition to electric transport brings uncertainty. In public transport, not everything worked perfectly from the start. Some assumptions proved incorrect, and new solutions had to be developed along the way. That learning process, however, has significantly shortened the path for transport companies today. The pitfalls are known, the solutions have been tested, and the technology has matured.
Companies that start with their operation, treat energy strategically, integrate planning and energy, consider scalability from day one and actively explore collaboration are building more than sustainability. They are building something very concrete: a fleet that is ready every morning, a planning process that does not require constant intervention, energy costs that remain manageable as the business grows, and investments that still make sense three or five years from now.
This turns the energy transition into a controlled development towards an operation that is future proof, reliable and financially sound.
Are you at the beginning of the energy transition and looking for insight into which steps make sense for your business? We are happy to show you what your routes, charging strategy and energy costs look like in a concrete scenario, so that the choices you make today align with the fleet you will need tomorrow.
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